Val nodded, needing to speak with them anyway, happy to follow along as the servitor weaved in and out of numerous luxuriously appointed corridors and past endless bowing servitors until they arrived before a grand dining hall, the surviving pair of Blackenthorps hardly doing justice to the feast of succulent meats, breads, pastries, and fruit on display.
Lucius’s fearsome gaze pinned Val for long moments before he broke into a smile, and it was all Val could do not to slip into Shadowmind. “Savior of my people, welcome to my table. Please, make yourself at home. We have much to discuss.”
Angelica caught his gaze with a winsome smile. “Sit beside me, my king. We would do our chefs, grateful just to be alive, poor service did we not do justice to this feast prepared in your honor.”
Val dipped his head. Future Overlord or no, he would not belittle his allies’ gesture. He would far rather have the pair feel respected and fight for his cause than feel slighted and grate against the oaths binding them. Far better allies than bitterly constrained enemies.
And Lucius’s cynical smile brought a flush to Val’s cheeks. The man was perhaps the most powerful Psionicist Val had encountered save Tytus himself, and he could read Val’s every thought right now.
Angelica chuckled softly. “How dangerous a path you walk, my king. Guard your thoughts well, lest you be open to vassals far less understanding than we.” She tilted her head, as Val seated himself, gazing at him with cynical bemusement. “You rode waves of virtue even as you crashed into the shoals of agony. Yet you can be just as cynical and jaded as any Dauda killing for cause or coin.” Angelica nodded in strange approval. “Good. We need a king who loves his people, yet is capable of utter ruthlessness as the situation demands. Now try these crepes with the redberry sauce. Absolutely divine!”
Val smirked and did just that, drinking deep of the fresh milk provided, avoiding the wine. Angelica and her father began discussing local politics and economics as Val dug in, and he realized the pair were, in their own way, giving him a crash course in the ins and outs of his latest province, after assuring him that Highblood lands were well in hand.
Lucius nodded. "Christine and your first-wife send their regards, by the way." He flashed a jaded smile. "For all our differences, Christine's stance is proving exemplary. In her own words, you are to see things to their utmost here and assure all troops are sworn under your banner. She plans on sending a hyperion communique once the electromana storm to the northwest has passed."
Val nodded at this as Lucius and Angelica went back to discussing the ins and outs of the province, highlighting their economic strengths, interests, and vulnerabilities as well. More than one red had turned their sights upon the province, seeing a rich prize ripe for the plucking. And for all that the city had the advantage of the most powerful force field not controlled by Jordian Command, the rest of the province, the farmlands, groves, and mines rich in mundane ores, were utterly vulnerable.
Val looked up from what really had been a delicious meal, perhaps the first decent meal he’d had in days. “So. We should expect multiple incoming threats, and soon. Besides the ion cannons and force fields guarding the city, we have some seven thousand trained soldiers and mercenaries on retainer, and eight mechs in battle-ready condition, two more undergoing repairs.”
Lucius nodded. “Lord Tremere is perhaps our greatest challenge at the moment. Though his income is less than half of our own, he is gambling his fortunes on seizing the throne, extending himself as far as he could in securing the services of near twenty thousand mercenaries including numerous mechanized units and at least fifteen battle-mechs.”
Val frowned thoughtfully. "Do we know how many of those battle-mechs or mechanized units are specced for long-range sniper fire? And what of air support? I have yet to see any emphasis on achieving air superiority. Quite surprising when you’re part of a galaxy-spanning empire."
Angelica favored him with the oddest stare before her eyes crinkled in a smile. "That's right. The rules are different where you come from.”
Val put down his fork. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”
"You are thinking of bombs and fighter support to protect said bombers. On Earth, when you achieve air superiority, you can quite literally blow up your enemies with near impunity, yes?"
Val couldn’t help smiling at that. “Yes, as you no doubt clearly see from my mind.”
Angelica nodded. “And what a beautiful, deadly mind you have, dear Val. In any case, exothermics, besides being utterly illegal within the Dominion, are nearly impossible to generate in a safe, stable form. So even if you could find Southern wizards or desperate local alchemists mad enough to generate explosive vials of Elementium-infused Silbion, you risk censure of the worst sort, and the vials would explode the second your transport jostles them."
“But...”
Angelica winked. “And we leave former misunderstandings between our Houses firmly in the past, dearest Valor. I’d far rather focus on the future, wouldn’t you?” Her soft hand slipped into his own, giving a gentle squeeze.
Val nodded, not having the heart to yank his hand away.
-I will be worthy of you, Valor, if you leave a place in your heart for me.-
Val blinked as the thoughts hit him, Angelica not saying a word, taking a sudden renewed interest in her food.
Lucius cleared his throat. "With exothermics out of the picture, airships have utility primarily as medic convoys, troop carriers, and gunners. Though universal treaty protects all medic conveys, that same treaty makes it a vatable offense to use them for subterfuge, leaving us with troop carriers which tend to be prime targets for our laser artillery. A skilled artillery sniper can bring down multiple troop ships in the right circumstances. Thus most mercenary units only sign on to contracts guaranteeing that air troop carriers will stay out of enemy range at all times. Though it's conceivable our foes could use swarms of troop carriers to invade our city by bypassing our force fields, they would in all likelihood take devastating casualties from ion cannons and our own artillery fire."
“And fighters?”
Lucius smiled. “There are no arc and range limitations with our laser cannons, Valor, unlike Terran slug-throwing weaponry, deadly as it is against our armor. It is as easy for us to track and shoot down a fighter as it is for them to lock on and strike various targets. It is denied the benefits of Terran aircraft equipped with explosives, so there is little an airship can do that artillery cannot, save die all the quicker with no camouflage or cover, and at far greater cost."
Val blinked. “I didn’t realize you were so versed in Terran warfare.”
Lucius smiled. “Your mind is an education, Valor Hunter.”
Val frowned. For all that he could now commune with the powerful force field, enabling the most powerful of rituals, it was still impossible for him to use Shadowmind unless he embraced it fully. He could now cloak himself if he gave it his all, but not his mind alone. “Can we please not peer into my mind without permission?”
Angelica sighed, shaking her head. “Actually, we can’t, Valor, especially when you meet our gaze. We read surface thoughts as easily as your ear translates my words, unless a Highlord has her wards up. Father and I always think to each other this way and it lets us understand points of reference and intentions in a conversation far easier than we otherwise would. It also helps to avoid countless misunderstandings, and Father and I can better appreciate how your own experiences as a soldier and assassin translate into defending our city.”
Val winced. “I wasn’t actually an assassin, you know.”
Angelica broke into peals of laughter. "Are you serious? All you did after avenging the death of your first love was kill for your beloved Colonel Yancey! He was your controller, your… mentor? Just because it was sanctioned by your former government didn't make you any less of an assassin, Valor."
Lucius nodded. “The role of Dauda comes naturally to you, Valor Hunter. As it should. May it serve you well in your bid for the thr
one.”
Val rubbed his temples, feeling a sudden headache coming on. "It seems you both have the better of me, unless I forever cloak myself in Shadowmind around you."
Angelica’s gaze grew haunted. “Do you really believe that, Valor? You have us bound to oaths so tight, so awful, that were we to break them...” She swallowed, voice dropping to a whisper. “Were we to break them, we would suffer deaths as horrific as Inquisitor Mordingi.”
Val winced, suddenly recalling the man's dying screams as discordance overtook him, the power of the oath literally tearing flesh from bone, rupturing every organ in his body, spraying dozens of onlookers with the dying man’s blood. It had been a hideous death, and some of the Highlords present had actually applauded.
Even Lucius paled, so visceral was Val’s sudden memory. “No, Valor Hunter. It is you that has the advantage.”
“Alright,” Val said, “no clear winners. As long as we’re allies, though, it doesn’t matter. Okay. Air support plays a minuscule role at best in most Jordian engagements. I think they could still be damned useful, but that’s neither here nor there if there are no aircraft available. Soldiers and mechanized units, spells and psionics, are how battles are fought and won here.”
Lucius nodded. “Correct, though magic is rarely used here in the north, save by the occasional Terran adventurer, as the arcane radiation released tends to short out most sophisticated equipment unless the mage is one of the few to pursue Personal Resonance Mastery.”
Angelica sighed. “And we could use one of those arcane officers right now. Unfortunately, they are preoccupied with the rebellion in the South.”
Val smiled. “Let me guess. You’re hoping one of them has the necessary magics to repair your damaged mech-units?”
Angelica grinned. “You are fast on the uptake, Valor! Yes, we...” Then she blinked and paled as Val let her catch his gaze. “Saints’ mercy, you actually possess such magics?”
Val nodded as certain possibilities clicked into place. He finally had the resources he needed, now it was time to do what must be done. “I do. But before we get into that, there is something I need. A lot of somethings, actually, and it seems like I finally have the facilities to make it happen.”
“And what something would that be exactly?” Lucius asked, then paled as Val let him get a good long look at what was percolating in his mind.
Val smiled. “It might be easier if you let me sketch out some rough schematics. Since we lack any kind of established formulary or methodology here, we’re going to keep it as simple and basic as possible. And I have to keep things such that I can safely store whatever we make.”
Angelica frowned, gazing at her father, then took a good long look at Val’s sketches after retrieving artist’s pad and pencils from her own quarters. She pinned Val with her gaze, her beautiful face turning as chalk-white as her father’s. “Valor, what you would dare is madness!”
Val said nothing. More than anything else, for this to work, he needed their trust, already sensing that both their minds were so hideously potent that no one would be prying secrets from them anytime soon, no matter how strong they might be. It was a good thing indeed he had caught them in a moment of weakness, showing mercy to a father’s dying child. In another place and time they might have blasted his mind to dust effortlessly, had he been knocked out of Shadowmind.
Angelica squeezed his hand, tears streaming from eyes glittering like jewels. “Not that you will ever have to worry about that, hero of my heart.” She swallowed, jerking a nod. “It is madness, pure madness, what you are considering, Val. But it was madness for us to even think of opposing the corrupt council, opposing Caligula’s will, and daring the throne for ourselves!”
Val looked up, meeting Lucius’s eyes. “Are you willing?”
The giant of a man frowned, before giving a slow nod. “Of course. And that you ask for the unorthodox instead of demanding it does more to show your fitness to rule fairly than anything else. I will make it happen, Valor Hunter, though production will be limited. Discretion and a ghost crew will be needed to assure absolute confidentiality.”
Val nodded. "Mind-wipe them when you're done. That way, well..."
Angelica nodded. “That way, we won’t have to kill them.” She smiled brightly at Val. “We will make it happen. In the meantime, I would love to see your magics firsthand, Valor. Can you truly do the work of a score of men with unlimited time and resources in a handful of minutes?”
“Only one way to find out...”
The three of them left the main palace, quickly making their way to the barracks. It was all Val could do not to flinch and step into shadow as he felt the weight of hundreds of eyes fastened upon him. And when he caught anyone’s eye, it was the same. A surprised grimace and either a hasty salute or a heartfelt bow, more than one tearful smile and young child held up high, waving madly when they saw him. He couldn’t help smiling back at those children, feeling a sudden, fierce joy in having helped to protect the lives of half a million people. His people now. And he would do all he could to protect them from the storm to come.
“Here they are, my lords.” Breathless words from the young lieutenant who quickly ushered Val and his companions to where the damaged units were being kept, massive behemoths of exotic light alloys that gave the mecha such grace and agility that they truly moved as if a living thing when in the hands of a skilled pilot. But first Angelica showed off the marvels of engineering she took such pride in flying with her fellow pilots, just as awe-inspiring as the ones Val's friends had been training with, only days before.
Those pristine beauties were a far cry from the broken shells Angelica took him to afterwards. Little more than heaps of mesh, metal, and circuitry, the pair had been savaged beyond repair. Gaping holes where laser fire had torn through the protective plating, in some cases cleaving off entire limbs, in all cases blasting through vital components and the cockpit as well. In truth, they looked little better than burnt husks, piles of refuse.
Val shook his head. Did they really think anyone could repair damage this severe?
Everyone within the massive hangar grew oddly still when Val first touched the shattered battle-mech before him, doing his best to ignore what seemed a hundred pairs of eyes as he embraced Dominion Catalyzation, a curious roaring in his ears as a flood of magic potential from himself, from the world, began to permeate the unit before him. An engineer’s masterpiece, once upon a time. And as Val felt himself commune with that symbol of power and potency, his earlier skepticism instantly faded.
He knew this battle-mech would rise again, whole and perfect, a work of art once more.
Congratulations! You have successfully cast Greater Dominion Catalyzation. 350 mana spent. Critical success! You have wrested a pristine artifact free of entropy’s grip! There is no conceivable way this should have been repairable. They’ve already salvaged half its parts! Angelica’s giving you that odd look again. You do have a knack for yanking probability by the whiskers, don’t you, Val? Oh well, it’s sure to catch up to you one day!
When Val took a deep, shuddering breath, standing upright once more, he couldn’t help but gaze with pride at the beautiful battle-mech before him, as polished and perfect as the day it had first been put together by a vast team of machines and engineers. And the room was still utterly silent. Angelica was gazing at him strangely, her face taking on an odd pallor.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
She swallowed. “Fix the battle-mech?”
Val frowned. “Isn’t that what you had me come down here for? You know I’ve repaired them before. You sensed it in my mind, right?”
“Val… we were expecting you to repair the other one.”
Lucius solemnly nodded. “The other one was deemed salvageable by our top engineers, assuming we could ever get our hands on an arcane technologist, so long as we used this one for scrap.”
Angelica chuckled softly. “Over half that mech had already been salva
ged for spare parts! What you did…”
“Should be impossible,” Lucius declared. “You are beyond remarkable, my king.”
In less than 2 minutes Val’s mana was fully recharged, and he found it much easier and cheaper to repair the second battle-mech, though the speechless gazes he received were no less intense than they had been minutes before.
After receiving profuse thanks from the staff, they prepared to leave, only to find a figure racing toward them at top speed.
Val’s hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his Psiblade, a heartbeat from slipping into shadow when he felt a gentle squeeze on his wrist, Angelica’s sultry voice washing over him. “No, Valor. He’s no threat. If anything, I think you will be happy to see him.”
Val frowned, curiosity piqued. Then it clicked as the figure racing toward them pulled up beside them wearing a pristine white uniform so like the one Yin had once worn, his brown eyes brimming with excitement. His voice was high-pitched and excited, turning to Val after giving a perfunctory bow to the Blackenthorps. “Hey there, you’re the new guy who just conquered these lands, right? Challenged the Blackenthorps to a duel or something? That’s epic, man! Name’s Jake Thatcher. Guess I’ll be working for you, now. Hey, I hope you don’t mind me asking, I doubt you’ll even care if you’re an NPC, but are you a player? Can player characters actually take over territories in this game? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Val blinked, stunned by the words. The brown eyes, the pimples, the awkward smile, the stringy build the kid would soon grow into. It all made sense. Jake wasn’t a Jordian. He was from Earth, just like Val. He couldn’t be over 16 and was probably in his bedroom at that very moment, porting into what he thought was just a game.
Angelica flashed a grin. “Yes, Val. He is a Terran. And a loyal and valued member of our elite battle-mech pilots.”
"That's right!" the boy enthused. "I've already hit level 3, and I can out-shoot two-thirds of these guys!" He shook his head. “I really wanted to go on the raid, too, but Mr. Blackenthorp wanted me to stay here and help guard the city with Angelica in case enemies tried to take us while our forces were divided.” The kid frowned. “I hated the thought of missing out on the experience, but like my dad says, in any job you have to follow orders. And I'm damned lucky to have a job that lets me play the awesomest game in the whole bloody world!"
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